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Coronavirus cases in UK rise to 206 today

The largest number of infections is in London with 29, followed by the South East region with 24 cases.

Shaun Lintern
Health Correspondent
Saturday 07 March 2020 15:35 GMT
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Coronavirus researcher claims its 'the most frightening disease I've ever encountered'

More than 200 Britons have now been infected with coronavirus, the government has said.

In its latest update on the outbreak the Department of Health and Social Care said 206 UK patients had been confirmed with the disease.

Two elderly patients have died.

The numbers infected have jumped 42 from 164 yesterday and show the virus is now established within the UK.

The largest number of infections is in London with 29, followed by the South East region with 24 cases.

Professor Chris Whitty, UK chief medical officer has warned it is now "more likely than not" that the UK will see an epidemic of the virus with sustained transmission within the UK.

Ministers are preparing to announce the UK is moving to its next phase of tackling the virus known as the "delay" phase which is designed to prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed and could involve closing schools and prevent large public events.

The total number of coronavirus cases around the world has risen to 100,000, leaving 3,400 dead, with the Netherlands reporting its first death from the disease on Friday and Serbia, Slovakia, Peru, Togo, Colombia and Cameroon all reporting their first infections.

In the US, thousands of people are currently stranded off the coast of San Francisco aboard a luxury cruise liner, the Grand Princess, after 21 passengers were found to have contracted Covid-19, as the number of cases in the US spiked to more than 250.

Fifteen people in the US have died following their exposure to the respiratory illness.

Over 4,000 people in New York have beeb in quarantine with dozens of cases confirmed.

In Iran, which has seen a serious outbreak, the number of deaths rose by 21 to reach 145 on Saturday with the country reporting more than 1,000 cases.

Officials in China have said for the first time since the start of the outbreak there are no new cases of coronavirus infection in Hubei province outside of its capital Wuhan.

New cases in Wuhan itself are expected to drop to zero by the end of the month.

World Health Organisation (WHO) assistant director-general Bruce Aylward said the rest of the world must learn from the “heroic” Chinese response to the virus.

Responding to the latest infection figures from Hubei, Dr Aylward told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “We can definitely be relieved and encouraged because here we had the epicentre where everybody said it was completely out of control and nothing could be done and China have managed to turn it around.”

Dr Aylward said the biggest lesson for Western countries from the Chinese experience was not the “draconian” approach taken in shutting down Wuhan, but the speed with which infected people were identified and isolated.

He said governments outside China were “obviously not” acting quickly enough.

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